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Narandor the Metal Mage
Narandor the Metal Mage. An embittered, cynical hermit (think Eeyore in the Pooh tales, for disposition), this archwizard of early Halruaa ended up on the wrong end of a spell-duel and got mangled horribly, in magics that kept him alive to feel the pain as a foe’s sequence of minor acid-burst and transforming spells wracked him (envisage, if you will, spells that shield the target from system shock and unconsciousness, and shapeshift them constantly to heal and reform around budding cysts in the interior of which flesh-searing acid is developed; the cysts grow and then burst, showering the surrounding flesh of the victim with agonizing “melting” effects; the cysts have an interior coating that resists and contains the acid until the cyst ruptures). Debilitated but unable to die, Narandor writhed in helpless pain until some of his former apprentices found him. They tried to quell the spells riding him, but managed only to isolate them in several of his limbs—which they then blasted into oblivion. Narandor lost consciousness, and they debated as to what to do for him; slay him out of mercy, transform him utterly, transfer his sentience into a beast-body, or - - their eventual choice - - replace his missing limbs with flowmetal, something many Halruaans had been working on. This is in effect “living” metal that bonds with an organic body and slowly poisons it, but in the meantime can function as replacement limbs, digits, etc. Flowmetal’s poisoning has never been overcome, and its use was later abandoned as spells were developed that could “infect” it swiftly to cause death of someone bonded to it in a handful of breaths, but Narandor received a right arm and shoulder, a right leg, and a left knee, all of replacement flowmetal - - which he has to this day. He counteracted the poisoning by devising a spell that shifts the chemical balance of his remaining organic body constantly, so that it flows in shape, weeps a pus of ceaseless discharges, and can grow functional fingers, breasts, crude press-lungs, false eyes, etc. as he wills. Narandor was already a master of skyship design, and he sailed one of his ships high into the sky and tethered it to a magically-levitated chunk of rock (all that remained of a blasted-to-dust “skycastle” fortress, that had once belonged to a Netherese archwizard until several rivals decided to destroy him whilst he was in residence). Then Narandor used his spells to cover the rock with edible mosses, lichens, and mushrooms, and settled down in isolation to devise new spells. His experiments were long and studded with more failures than successes, but he eventually achieved two things: the ability to ensnare moisture and shield his home from the full heat of the sun, so as to keep that dampness and preserve his plants from baking on the rock - - and the ability to move his home through the skies with fair precision. Whereupon, of course, he set about traveling around collecting other aerial fragments, and “growing” his home into his own private little jungle, plus bits and pieces of several ruined skyships and aerial abodes. Mystra imbued him with some of her silver fire (with his enthusiastic agreement) not to have him be a meddling “remake the world” Chosen, but to store some of herself where others were unlikely to come into contact with it. For his part, Narandor gained a permanent freedom from the flowmetal poisoning effect (the silver fire offsets it), Mystra’s love, gratitude, and presence whenever he grows lonely and calls for it, and philosophical debates from time to time with Mystra or various of her servitors, who now act as Narandor’s agents in Faerûn, to bring him back items he desires (mainly substances for spell experimentations). Narandor is now fairly contented, though he retains his doleful manner, and lives his life making various exotic wines, researching spells, and using his magics to observe events on Faerûn far below. Category:Humans Category:Wizards